“I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.” 2 Pet. 1:15

We talk a lot at CGN about living and leaving a legacy of faith for the next generations.   I’ve discovered over the years that some misconceptions exist about what that means.  There is tendency to think of legacy in terms of how the next generations will think about  me.  We all want to be thought well of, but if that is the primary or total focus of our legacy, we miss the point.

Peter provides a much more accurate context for understanding the kind of legacy we at CGN want to promote.  Peter’s concern is not what they will remember about him, but what they will remember about Christ and the qualities of true faith lived out in a turbulent world.  In other words, the goal of Peter’s legacy was to make sure that after his departure, those remaining would remember who they are in Christ and the importance of living a godly life.  It is admirable to want to live a life that our children and grandchildren will fondly remember, but if it does not help them remember who they are in Christ, in the final analysis it will be a legacy without any eternal value.

What will your children and grandchildren remember after you are gone?  Will they remember, because of the legacy your left, what a godly life really looks like and how to live it?  As a grandparent, the most important legacy I can leave is the example of what it means to follow Christ wholeheartedly in the now.

FANNING THE FLAME

On April 5^th a new resource tool is being offered by CGN to help you effectively live and leave such a legacy.  The LIVING YOUR WILL guidebook provides step-by-step suggestions and forms to create and execute your own FIRST Will and Testament.  This is not the typical Will you know about which has to do with what you leave after death, or a Living Will that expresses how you want to die under certain circumstances.  This is a very different approach to the idea of a Will. It is focused on building a legacy by investing and distributing valuable assets we possess as God’s workmanship to represent Christ to the next generations in a way they will always remember.  You can order your copy at www.livingyourwill.com beginning April 5, 2010.

GRANDPAUSE: The most trivial and the most important, the most likely and the most unlikely circumstances are made to minister to the development of God's purposes. --C. M. Mackintosh

Comments   

 

#2 Frances 2010-04-18 19:54

I asked a pastor's wife what I could do to help keep young people serving the Lord and coming to church. She said that one of the most helpful services I could do was show interest in and genuine friendship to kids of all ages. The young people had said that the interest that an older person (grandparent/gr andparent figure) took in them the more likely they were to stick around! That surprised me, but I'm acting on that!

 

 

#1 Terry Stratton 2010-03-29 13:26

Research from the University of Alberta found that senior citizens can have a lasting impact on how children view elderly people. Research found children as young as 3 years old have a negative bias against older people-those preschoolers who weren't biased had regular contact with senior citizens. A recent study from Undergraduate Research Community at Kasas State University found that early elementary kids learned the following from senior citizens: to be nice and kind to others, how to play games, to respect others who are elders and that the elderly are nice people.

 

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